Montreal tourist season at risk over tuition protests

MONTREAL — Aerial shots showing a crowd estimated at more than 100,000 protesters spilling out of the Place des Festivals Tuesday evoked more peaceful times in Quebec. Usually when that many people fill the downtown site, it is for one of the International Jazz Festival’s free summer concerts.

As the tuition protests drag on with no resolution in sight, businesspeople and tourism officials are starting to worry that the overlap between the student movement and the festivals that define Montreal summer will not be just symbolic.

“I don’t think we would have ever thought that it would have lasted this long,” William Brown, executive vice-president of the Hotel Association of Greater Montreal said in an interview Wednesday, the 101st day of protests that began back in February.

“Now that it has gone this long and it’s getting worldwide media attention, we’re beginning to get very concerned about the overall image of Montreal as a destination.”

Montreal’s festival season kicks off in just over two weeks when racing fans arrive for Grand Prix weekend June 8 to 10. On Wednesday, Montreal anti-capitalist activist Jaggi Singh warned that visitors to the annual event should prepare for more than loud cars.

“Grand Prix website brags about ‘jet set’ coming to Mtl,” he wrote on Twitter. “Rich douchebags are going to be disrupted by night demos.” In another Twitter comment he said that if Montreal’s “capitalist class” is worried about the disruptions of Grand Prix parties downtown, “then maybe there should be disruptions!”

The link between tuition fees and Ferraris might not be immediately obvious, but from the beginning, the more radical protesters have framed their fight as a class struggle and declared their desire to disrupt the economy. The Grand Prix has been estimated to pump $89-million a year into the city’s economy.

Grand Prix organizers declined comment, but Gilbert Rozon, president and founder of Montreal’s Just for Laughs comedy festival, said he is concerned the race could become a target. “This is a debate about left and right, and the Grand Prix is about big cars and rich people, so I suppose they are very nervous,” he said.

The nighttime protests that frequently end in vandalism and violence are tarnishing Montreal’s image, Mr. Rozon said. In April, the U.S. embassy in Ottawa warned American tourists of possible “unforeseen violence” in Montreal related to the protests. Hotel bookings are down, people are steering clear of downtown restaurants and even laughter is becoming a tough sell. Mr. Rozon said some subscribers to his July comedy festival are saying they want to wait before buying tickets to see if the situation calms down.

“You work hard for years to build a good image. Montreal has a good image, as a fun city, a place where you go an enjoy life and you’re going to have a great party time,” he said. “What’s going on now is not scary but certainly troubling.”

Mr. Brown said members of his 77-hotel association are starting to report cancellations and slower-than-expected bookings. “The longer this goes on, the more people become aware and the more doubts are created, and we are therefore not in the sunniest situation,” he said.

Pierre Bellerose, vice-president of research for Tourism Montreal, said the number of visitors has held steady so far, but there is concern that tourists will start to be turned off by news of the protests. “So far so good, but we are arriving at a stage where we start worrying,” he said.

Ziggy Eichenbaum, owner of Ziggy’s pub on Crescent Street, has already seen the impact, saying his business is down 20%. “A lot of the regular customers, when they finish their work they just go home because they don’t want to stick around downtown,” he said. “They’re worried if there’s a demonstration they’ll get stuck until midnight.”

Crescent Street is a focal point of Grand Prix celebrations, and Mr. Eichenbaum said the event is not simply about the frolicking jet set, as some protesters claim. “What about the shops who are counting on Grand Prix to keep them above water?” he said. “This is the week that makes them or breaks them.”

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